PLoS ONE (Jan 2016)

The Discrete Emotions Questionnaire: A New Tool for Measuring State Self-Reported Emotions.

  • Cindy Harmon-Jones,
  • Brock Bastian,
  • Eddie Harmon-Jones

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159915
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 8
p. e0159915

Abstract

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Several discrete emotions have broad theoretical and empirical importance, as shown by converging evidence from diverse areas of psychology, including facial displays, developmental behaviors, and neuroscience. However, the measurement of these states has not progressed along with theory, such that when researchers measure subjectively experienced emotions, they commonly rely on scales assessing broad dimensions of affect (positivity and negativity), rather than discrete emotions. The current manuscript presents four studies that validate a new instrument, the Discrete Emotions Questionnaire (DEQ), that is sensitive to eight distinct state emotions: anger, disgust, fear, anxiety, sadness, happiness, relaxation, and desire. Emotion theory supporting the importance of distinguishing these specific emotions is reviewed.